Extension fire-ladder



(No Model.)

J. L. CRAFTS. EXTENSION FIRE LADDER.

No. 451,708. Patented May 5,1891.

-UNITED STATES PATENT Enron.

EXTENSION FIRE-LADDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,708, dated May 5, 1891.

Application filed April 12, 1890.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN L. CRAFTS, of Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Extension Fire- Ladders, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of my invention to provide a firemans ladder which, while capable of being used as an extension-ladder in all of the ways that such contrivances are now employed, shall combine therewith improved means which shall snbserve all of the functions of a water-tower, so called.

My invention will first be described in connection with the annexed drawings, forming a part of this specification, and then be pointed out in the claim appended to the detailed description.

Of the said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention, the hose-carryin g and nozzle-operating devices being shown as connected with the lower section of the ladder, and the dotted lines showing the manner in which the ladder may be extended by projecting the upper section without carrying the hose or hose-carrying frame therewith. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the invention, looking at the side to which the nozzle-operating means are attached. Fig. 3 is a perspective view,on an enlarged scale, of the upper end of the ladder and the hose-carrying and nozzle-operating devices, the latter being shown as attached to the upper section of the ladder. Fig. 4 is a detail view, also on an enlarged scale, showingapart of the means for cont-rollin g the position of thenozzle from the ground.

The same letters, figures, or marks of reference designate the same parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

In the drawings,a designates a truck or ladder support and transporting medium, upon which the ladder may be folded, transported, and rest when not in use and which may form a base capable of sustaining the ladder in vertical or substantially vertical position when so needed.

b 1) designate braces connected with the lower end of the ladder and its support to assist in sustaining the said ladder in vertical position.

Serial No. 347,666. (No model.)

The ladder is here shown as composed of two sections-a lower section 0 and an upper section dthough it may comprise a greater number of sections.

a designates the hose-carrying device, which consists of a frame, preferably (though not necessarily) of metal, adapted to be slipped down upon the side bars of the upper section and to be connected therewith at any desired point by means of a rodf, passed through holes formed in the frame and in the said side bars, as shown in Fig.3, or it may be connected only with the lower section a by removing the rod f from the place in which it is shown in Fig. 3, and passing it through the holes 9 of the frame and through holes formed in the side bars of the lower section, or of attachments or lugs 72, connected with the upper end of the lower section, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. With this last-mentioned arrangement the upper section (1 may be projected, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, without affecting the position of the hosecarrying frame 6. The upper end of the line of hose to which the HOZZlQt is attached is made flexible, in order that the nozzle may be brought into an inclined or horizontal position to direct the stream of water thrown therefrom accordingly. The part of the hose at the point at which the same is attached to the carrying and controling frame 6 is made, by preference, in whole or in part of metal, and is adapted to be turned in bearings 3', connected with the frame e. The said metallic portion of the hose is provided with'a worm-wheel 7c, engaged by worm Z on a short shaft m, adapted to turn in bearings formed in a frame a, connected with the frame e. On the shaftm there is secured a sprocket-wheel 0, over which is passed a chain p adapted to turn the said sprocket-wheel as it is drawn thereover. Ropes q may be attached to the ends of the chain 19 and extend to the ground or base to enable the user standing on the ground to operate the sprocketframe, the side portions 6 of which serve to guide and support the flexible portion of the hose laterally, while the rods 6 in the lower part of the said frame form a curved support over which the said flexible portion of the hose may be bent, thereby avoiding angular turns or breaks in the hose, the objections attending which will be apparent.

The ladder is provided at proper points with leaders a to guide and keep in proper position the ropes (1 r2. At the points where the ends of the chain 13 are joined to the ropes q arefastened ball stops a adapted to comein contact with the plate a, provided with eyes a, through which the chainp passes, and so stop the movement of the chain over the sprocket-wheel 0, and consequently stop the operation of the latter. The ball stops a are so positioned as to stop the movement of the sprocket-wheel 0 when the metallic section of the hose has been rotated in its bearingsj as far as is desirable.

r designates a rope or line connected with the nozzle for the purpose of drawing the same down to an angular or horizontal position, as before described. The rope or line r may be connected with and operated by a Windlass or reel 8, secured to the lower section 0 at or near its lower end, by wrapping the said rope or line several times around the said Windlass after the ladder has been extended and the hose raised to the desired point, and to readily operate the said windlass it may be provided with a worm-wheel t, engaged by a worm u on a shaft 0, provided with a hand-wheel w, or it might be a crank, so that by turning the said hand-Wheel the Windlass may be operated to draw down on the rope 'r or relax the draft on the same to regulate the position of the nozzle horizontally, it being understood that the force of the water'passing through thehose will operate with a tendency of straightening the hose out to vertical position.

The portion of the hose up to the point 00,

at Which'the nozzle is attached, may be constructed as a main with which more than one engine may be connected to supply water thereto, and at the point 00 provision may be made for the attachment of regulation-size hose, so that after a fire is partially subdued at a point opposite the nozzle so that firemen can work at the said point an additional section of hose may be attached at the said point wand carried into a building, over a roof, or elsewhere; or provision may be made at the point :0 for the attachment of an additional line of main hose of the kind represented at y.

,2 designates a rope or line attached to the lower section, preferably at or near its upper end, to which rope or line the hose is connected, as at 2", this construction and arrangement of parts being for the purpose of relieving the upper section or sections of the ladder of the weight of the hose as far as possible,

it being understood that the upper section is usually made lighter than the lower section, and, again, if the upper section should be left to carry the entire weight of the hose upon the ladder, the same upper section could not be manipulated as readily as might be desired.

a designates a ring loose upon the coupling, by which the nozzle t' is attached to the hose, to which loose ring a there is connected an eye, or it may be a loose ring a to which latter ring the cord or line 0' is attached. Any suitable means may be provided for latching or looking one section in connection with another.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the hose-carryin g frame may be readily connected with or disconnected from any section of the ladder or be removed from the device altogether, and the ladder maybe extended or shortened without affecting the position of i the hose, or the latter may be readily carried with the ladder in extending or shortening the same. The control of the nozzle and stream of water directed therefrom can be secured and maintained by the operator standing upon the ground or at the base of the ladder, and, in brief, all of the advantages of: an extension fire-ladder and a Water-tower are secured by my invention without any disadvantages to either at a very considerable saving of the expense of a water-tower, and with but a slight increase in the cost of an extension-ladder.

I am aware that it is not new to provide a curved metallic former as a support for the a flexible section of a pipe in a fire-extinguishing apparatus, said former being concaved on its inner surface, and hence I do not claim such construction. 1

Having thus explained the nature of my invention and described a way of constructing and using the same,I declare that what-I claim is- The combination, with an extension-ladder, of a hose-carrying frame, the hose having a metallic portion secured in bearings of said frame and having an upper flexible end, the worm-wheel secured to said metallic portion, the rotary shaft having a worm engaging said worm-wheel, the hose-nozzle secured to said flexible end, the rope or line connected to said nozzle, and the frame secured to the upper end of said metallic portion and consisting of parallel vertical side portions and connecting cross-rods, said side portions forming guides for said flexible end, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 4th day of April, A. D. 1890.

JOHN L. CRAFTS.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR W. CRossLEY, A. D. HARRISON. 

